


Good-bye Days

by JasperLion



Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Some Comfort, Mentions of Teen Pregnancy, Post-Canon, Pre-Flowers, the calm before the storm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasperLion/pseuds/JasperLion
Summary: Just like everyone living, they all grow up roughened by the world. It's always up to each individual to make their own dreams and hopes. And, despite it all, learning it can't always go their way is the hardest truth to accept.A short story about Yoh and Anna's early journey on their mission entrusted by Hao and their promises to Hana.
Relationships: Asakura Yoh/Kyouyama Anna
Kudos: 12





	Good-bye Days

**~ Good-bye Days ~**

* * *

~

「 _Everything'll work out._ 」

~

* * *

"When can we travel outside of Japan? Because you know... I do want to fulfill our promise."

They had a week until school resumed in September.

"Are you trying to shirk your responsibilities, Yoh?" came a sharp, icy response. The intensity of her glare could slice someone's head off.

For their summer vacation, they returned to Izumo.

"Ack—that's not it!" Yoh's exhausted muscles coiled up tightly and he stretched out his back shoulder from the pain that had went from tingling to jolts over the entirety of the past few months.

In fact, they both traveled weeks before school let students out for summer break. Their attendance became spotty a couple months into the new term due to Anna's condition.

"You better not." Anna closed her eyes, leaning back on the armrest of the sofa. The radio's volume down low nearby to filter out the noise and the deafening silence.

A smile gently tugging at the corner of his lips, he propped the bundle in his arms and rocked the rocking chair his grandmother would sit in every afternoon.

The seeping sunlight was filtered by the semi-opaque screendoor, casting a lukewarm glow to the room. The soothing heat made Yoh yawn from how sleepy he suddenly became.

"Ah.. mm... let your old man sleep, ok, Hana?" The newborn did not stir from his peaceful slumber at the murmur, and Yoh's almost envious, wishing he could sleep like a log again. Before he could let himself doze off, he kept on watching Hana and he couldn't help but again smile wearily. Warmth engulfing his heart at the sight.

 _He is really so tiny still... I don't want to hurt him..._ Cradling him more firmly, he rocked the chair once more to keep up with the rhythm.

_How do I do this coo thing again...?_

"...hehe... ah, umm..." A chuckle of awkwardness paired with uncertainty on how to act more fatherly.

He'd seen his grandfather show them how, although the way he did it would wake up the baby wailing boisterously if Yoh copied it exact.

Ah, but Hana wouldn't make much blubbering noise yet... least not for a while as typical for newborns, or so he was told as he was utterly clueless on the whole topic of early human development.

Fidgeting with his headphones to listen to a song on repeat to doze off to for now, he relaxed his twitching shoulders and pulled the small bundle close to his chest.

"Maybe we can go on a trip before New Year's."

"—hah?" Anna's proposal made Yoh's eyes snap open with an agape look on his face.

She turned her head to her dorky-looking husband sitting like a stiff statue, who still hadn't gotten used to the new life.

Not just as a newly married man of now five months, not just as a new father of hardly two weeks.

But after _that_ day, they had to adjust and leave behind their graveyard of lost dreams. All they could do was drag back the bare bones and breathe new life into those lost hopes, giving them new shapes and forms.

_( "Not all dreams are lost, it's all right. Some of us just have to work hard now to achieve them with our own hands." )_

They hadn't had it easy.

"...ah, that's great, Anna. Then, we can start by going west around the world, right?"

"It would be cheaper." Of course she would think about the costs above all else. After all, getting a flight or boat trip from Japan to mainland Asia wouldn't be as expensive as going across oceans.

Comfortable silence draped over them, and when Yoh thought that was the end of that, he attempted dozing.

"Will you be going back to Tokyo next week?"

It was... a question?

Yoh blinked long and hard, puzzlement washed over his face.

"Yeah, why? Manta said he would help fill me in over the weekend if I return before Sunday."

There was a blank stare, she had a look of introspective thought on her face. It was sort of unsettling.

They had previously agreed to let Yoh return as soon as possible to catch up on his studies while Anna stayed back in Izumo with the grandparents while she recovered well enough to go back to school without being questioned.

"Tell them there's an extended family emergency."

That was the excuse they had used to inform the teachers for the reason of their absences for the past year.

"... Aa... all right," came an easy agreement. It made some sort of sense enough so he didn't think hard on what Anna was saying.

It took his sluggish brain a bit to catch up.

And another hot minute to sink in.

"—huh?!"

The baby stirred.

"Quieten down, would you?! You're going to wake up our son again!" The face of death returned to her exhausted features, and Yoh's nerves sprung up.

"S-sorry...!" He stressed the word with a loud whisper, his arms taut.

There's a sigh of relief when Hana didn't wake up and wail.

For now.

Yoh felt more tired from that thought—of the inevitable.

Instead, he glanced over and took notice of his wife resting the back of her hand against the bridge of her nose, eyes closed and leaning away from the sunlight. Her hair strands scattered in disarray falling over her brow. The sunrays only reached up to her cheek and casted dancing shadows over her rumpled robes and blanket.

It made her look beautiful in this serene moment.

It's the little wonders like these that make Yoh smile sincerely. He was also glad that Anna wanted him to stay with her for the time being. They would have to deal with the academic studies later, as they've managed it once before and pass the final examinations in March when they came back in January of that year.

He'd be less sleep deprived if he went back to Tokyo sooner, sure, however, he didn't wish to just leave her like this either. So her suggestion made his heart soar.

"By the way, Anna... How do I pass the message to them that I'll be staying here a while longer?"

"Dunno. Figure it out yourself and you better get it done today."

Groaning softly, he leaned back and let out another yawn, ready for sleep to soothe him.

Then Hana stirred and cried abruptly.

"—Arrgghh! When am I ever gonna sleep?!"

* * *

~

「 ... _live happily and carefreely_... 」

~

* * *

Their first fray into going westward had been rocky. Scraping up enough money in time was an uphill battle, only to be left with little change to fend for themselves in a foreign country that did not accept Japanese yen as currency.

If it were not for the generous old lady in a small village who took pity upon their souls and was too endeared by their crying, hungry baby, they would have struggled practically homeless for a week.

The whole ordeal was anything except easy.

Yoh panicked. Anna utterly appalled. Hana slept, unawareness was bliss.

The poor village barely had enough produced bread and beans to feed everyone on the regular basis, the food imports low due to the unstable government and weakening trade regulations.

There was almost nothing they could do to fix nor help, except watch the farmers work away at their bare fields growing on somewhat coarse soil. Even the land hadn't been the most ideal, yet it was all they had.

_( "Humans and nature should live in harmony, but it isn't always the case when one can destroy or deprive the other." )_

Shamans inherently existed as the peacemakers, the middlemen, as advisors and leaders—those who helped bridge the two sides, yet they bore not the power to change by force.

Only the King could exhibit such power.

And pieces of the Great Spirit.

The idea only came to Yoh while he was munching away on roasted pork strips and watching the earthly spirit ball bobble slowly in the air near the campfire.

"...Ah, _baa-chan_... you can't get much anything to grow around here?" He inquired, the thought taking ahold of his mind. Anna sat still, only flickering over glances while feeding their son next to her.

"Mmhhrhm..." the old woman responded with a rumbly sigh. "Yes, yes, indeed... Only wild berries, pumpkin, squash, some nuts and beans if lucky. Ah, how was the stew juices, little dears?"

It dripped thickly off the pork strips with strong flavors of their year's harvested spices.

"Ah, it's really delicious! I haven't had anything be this strong before." The reply seemed to have pleased her. Yoh continued on, "do you remember when we said we are shamans?"

She gave a paused look, then a long drawn out nod. "Ah, yes... you are quite young to travel by yourselves from Japan."

"I can help," the easy-going smile came easily to his face amidst enjoying the savory bites of dinner. "You may not believe me, but... I was entrusted with the powers of earth by the Shaman King!"

The old woman bore a speechless, puzzled look. For a boy to claim such incredible, incomprehensible powers in a manner all too calmly...

"It's not every day you meet the twin brother of God," Anna said, her voice serious yet there were hints of amusement playing in her gaze. She turned to the soft hum of the crackling fire. "Yoh, he is asleep now."

Hana who had been greedily eating all the squashed, softened foods fell asleep contently in yet another slumber, quiet gurgles by his mother's side.

Not knowing what to say, the woman had opted to watch the younglings in peace rather than mull over or doubt what she thought to be unbelievable.

"It's really dark out, and kind of freezing," Yoh muttered the last part sheepishly, then going on in normal tone, "so I can show you what I mean tomorrow at high noon."

An agreement was made over the diminishing warm crackles of that cold, winter night.

Late morning, they waded through the frosted fields of dew. The village soon went out of sight and Yoh wondered if the villagers peeking curiously or skeptically from their doorways or windows could still spot them from this distance. Not that it mattered whether they could see them or not.

"Ah, Hana, want to go for a ride with Papa?" Yoh asked with a small awkward laugh, tickling the baby's nose till he laughed, Anna had reprimanded him time and time again for spoiling their child too much, but he couldn't help himself sometimes.

Holding Hana firmly in one arm, he raised the other toward the wispy blue-white sky.

"Alright, let's go—! Oversoul, Spirit of Earth!" The spirit ball expanded rapidly into a vaguely humanoid formation of a broad-shouldered earth spirit, a gigantic shadow casting over half of the field, raising the pair up into the sky from the ground in its' cockpit.

Hana's eyes grew wide in excitement and flailed his arms, babbling loudly. Yoh laughed cheerily. Anna stood idly, watching upward. The old woman stared up perplexed. Spirit of Earth floated intimidatingly still.

"Heh heh... this would be amazing once you get old enough to remember." Yoh held him protectively, letting him look all around in wonder high up in the air. It warmed his heart and soul to be involved in this special bonding moment—that they rarely ever had while growing up as love-seeking children in this riddled world.

"Okay, let's help this village, Spirit of Earth!"

The spirit reared up then went for a touchdown, circular ripples spread throughout the lands from the vortex. Energy hummed in the ground, rejuvenating as it overturned the coarse dirt into soft, fertilized soil; trees saplings sprouted through the snow like a miracle garden of flowers; the earth split with a small crack at the edge of the village allowing for a stream connected to a far-away river; raw earthly resources formed buried under rock awaiting to be found.

One moment at a time, one season at a time, the new plant life and buried treasures would surface in the small village, lending back to the tending shepherds.

_( "However, shamans could nurture nature, just as much as shamans could use nature to assist humans." )_

Yoh could not help but gaze dejectedly at the distant settlement from over the hill, gripping tightly onto the rusty pile of foreign coins in his palm the delighted old woman had convinced them to take for their trip back home.

"...will there be many places like this?" It was neither pity nor sorrow—his voice quiet and hollow. What felt like a battle won did not feel like a victory of the war they had yet to end.

"There are. Perhaps more than we could even comprehend." Anna said, not being surprised one bit. Yoh's expression remained unchanging.

"You can't hope to save all of them, Yoh." Anna was the first to turn her back and move along the path, carrying Hana in a wool sling the woman had knitted for them.

"... I know. I know that." Yoh dragged his feet, slowly catching up in pace.

Sincerity quickly returned to grace upon his curving lips. "Still, though... she was really kind to us. I am glad there are people like her out there."

A soft look flickered in Anna's eyes for barely more than a few moments feeling the warmth grasp around her hand by her side.

—

The pair made it to the shrine just in time for New Year's. This year, unlike the previous visits, a babbling bundle of joy accompanied them.

Hana cooed and flailed his little limbs to catch the fluffy snowflakes drifting down.

Yoh laughed heartily on his way down the slope, bouncing his son in his arms with every step. He hadn't thought he'd take easily to being a father and a child caretaker, but after these past few months since the day Hana was born, he felt it easier to bond with him by being his usual self.

Babies were difficult—they were always needy at a whim, couldn't take care of themselves, always needed attention and love. Out of the two, Yoh received all the tiny hand smacks to his face and death grips until his fingers went numb, and Anna who never dealt with the brunt of it could never understand how a tiny human could lock a grown shaman into place purely by physical strength alone.

Babies could be painful.

They could even be compared to the King Himself as fearsome opponents.

But, they were also surprisingly easy. It was always a relief when all he had to do was craddle or clumsily shower the child with affection, and it would be satisfactory for Hana to happily nap away.

A relief that Yoh did not need to act like an actual dad yet—he wasn't ready to put the feeble heart into lectures, discipline, and dealing with the painful hard work of raising a kid who'd talk back.

_( He wasn't ready to let go of himself. )_

They left behind their offerings and wishes.

 _An easy, relaxed life with everyone._  
\- Yoh

 _Please protect Yoh and Hana._  
\- Anna

Hana babbled enthusiastically up at the shrine.

* * *

~ 

「 ... _just relax, follow what your heart tells you_ ... 」

~

* * *

The brisk winter melted into the crisp spring, leaves dancing wildly in the wind.

Carved stones dotted the trail, the freshly budded shrubberies swayed like a passing wave to a welcomed stranger.

A half-eaten corndog in one hand, a small bag of groceries in the other, Yoh strolled with a peaceful smile on his face, the music oozing into his ears from the headphones. The beaten landscape provided for a change of pace in scenery, different from his homeland's lush, temperate land of _zen_. Japan rarely ever saw drastic changes of the seasons, remaining rather moderate compared to other countries in more colorful weathered areas.

Drastic enough that his arms had never felt so frozen like icicles simply from the chilly spring wind.

"...ah ha ha... I can't... wait... to get back..." Wearing only the short-sleeved leaf shirt, baggy pants, and sandals had been a mistake.

Pushing himself to pick up the slow pace, he tore into the rest of the corndog with eager bites—anything to push back the thought of how cold it was out to the back of his mind all the way back to the house they were temporarily staying in.

He couldn't be any happier walking through the front door and having the heat smack his whole body, engulfing in its' welcoming embrace.

And it wasn't the only thing that smacked into his body, with the addition of a running, blubbering gremlin hurdling head-first into his legs.

"Gah—!! H-Hana?!" Surprise took him for a whirl, his feet planted to the wooden floors and dropping the bag with a crash. Weight attached itself to his leg like a hugging koala with the chubby limbs wrapped around his shin—or a kitten on a scratch post with the clawing to be picked up.

"Wa... waa... wuu... pa... papa!"

And astonishment took Yoh for another twirl. Shock morphed into absolute joy—his emotions threatened to burst out of him.

"Ah—he called me dad...! His first word—!" 

Hoisting up the clawing baby, he spotted his wife standing in a doorway with arms crossed watching the scene, the corner of her lips quirked up into a small smirk.

"Anna—! Our son is running already—! Ah, he finally said his first word! He called me papa like we've been trying to—!" Yoh had too many words of excitement jammed up in his throat, trying to get it all out at once.

"Oh, that? He said it a few days ago."

Joy evaporated in an instant.

Disbelief instead plastered onto his face.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?"

He only received a shrug in return.

"It was right after you left the house, he was crying for you. He hasn't said it again since until now."

The dropped bag of groceries got picked up and carried to the countertop.

"...ah, I can't believe it... My nightmare came true... did I miss him starting to walk too?" Dejected, Yoh dragged his feet to the table and sat, pushing aside the rolled up newspaper they couldn't read.

"No." Anna took out the ingredients and packages piece by piece, glancing over to the side with some semblance of surprise. "That's a first."

A sigh, he murmured and grabbed an applesauce cup from the bag, ready to feed Hana with it.

Color him surprised that the young child managed to skip walking entirely and go straight up running. The total opposite of how Yoh himself was according to his grandmother, who loathed trying to learn how to walk and wanted to sit or be held instead.

"Sorry that I wasn't there the first time around," Yoh laughed softly, feeling a little bad for not returning to the alleged cries. That he left Anna stuck with that. That he wasn't there.

"But it'll be alright, Papa will be here for you. There's still so much stored in our future for us to celebrate." Yoh tickled the baby's nose with his pinky. "No reason to not look forward to it, right?"

Hana fussed, waving and gripping onto the playful pinky with all of his deadly baby strength.

"Gah, oww! You're squeezing the life out of your dad again, Hana...!" Yoh tugged with all he could without accidentally smacking himself in the face or making his son cry, but once again, he would lose at the faux-Chinese finger trap game. 

"...hehe, yeah, you're right. It's a pinky promise. When you're old enough to remember, we'll take you on a swan ride back at home, okay?"

* * *

~

「 ... _and we love you_. 」

~


End file.
